The Legend of Alex: Bloodline of Heroes
by Negetive2digit
Summary: It has been decades since Link became a Hero. He has been retired and dead for years, now, and, now, his orphaned preteen grandson has decided to try to take up his mantle. Alex, though of the bloodline of the Hero, has yet to learn much patience or humility, which are vital traits in a hero. Will he become a legend or shame the line of the Hero beyond repair?
1. The Legendary Sage

**Long in the making, the distant sequel to Zelda Heroes, this is the tale of Link's grandson and the new generation as they face challenges of their own and make legends that rival their ancestors'. This is The Legend of Alex: Bloodline of Heroes. Chapter one has now been revised.**

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"Hyrule, land forever doomed to be caught in conflict over the sacred relic of the Goddesses, the Triforce. Termina, a great land of various diverse cultures, Lebryanna, land of Time, Holodrum, land of Seasons, all of these lands remember a hero, garbed in green, which saved the people, alongside his companions, in their darkest hours. Alas…legends grow old and fade. I, too, have aged and watched my friends depart to be with the Goddesses…but new legends are like to be born and I feel that that time may be drawing near…"

**Chapter 1: The Legendary Sage**

Wednesday, 10:00, West Clock City

A figure in a dark green tunic, with matching pointed, floppy hat, approached the western gate of the wall around the core of Clock City, center of Termina. He sported a head of red-brown hair and carried a sheathed Hylian Sword, held on with a leather baldric, on his back. His brown leather boots sounded quietly as he ducked and weaved around foot traffic of Zoras, Gorons, and Terminans. The gate guard barely gave him a second glance, from under his metal visor, as the preteen passed and stopped in the middle of the plethora of buildings and stood to look around with awe. This city was much larger than any he'd been to before. As people jostled him in their haste to go about their business, Alex realized that he had no idea of where his quarry was. Frowning, he went over to the gate guard.

"Hey!" he shouted over the hubbub around them. "Where's Lucius the Sage?"

"Dunno, kid," the guard shrugged. "Haven't heard about him in years,"

"Blast…" Alex turned away without so much as a thank-you and walked briskly away through the crowds. The guard gestured to his mate and whispered something to him. The other guard nodded and hastened off into the crowd. 'Mom told me that he lived here. She wouldn't lie…' The preteen headed down the shallow steps of the street, seeing the colors caused by the sunlight shining through the awnings above, finally coming to a shop called 'The Trading Post', according to the sign out front. 'Maybe Lucius comes here to shop…' Alex assumed. With a sigh and a shrug, he pushed the door open and stepped into the medium-sized shop. There were numerous shelves; all piled a bit haphazardly with all sorts of objects and paraphernalia. Alex stepped around the shelves, smelling the musty air, seeking the counter. A minute later, he found it; a lanky, shirtless, surfer-looking dude with long hair and tattoos was manning it.

"What up, dude? Wanna buy somethin'?" the guy asked.

"No, I don't need any of this junk," Alex answered impatiently. "I want to know where Lucius the Sage is," the guy looked puzzled and scratched his scruffy mop of hair.

"Dunno, haven't seen him, dude," the guy answered. Alex was quickly heading to the door, annoyed.

Heading on down the street, Alex came to a good-sized brick building. It was the bank, according to the sign outside. Heading inside, he saw an old man with long grey hair that hid his eyes. He sat on the counter and patted his wrinkled hands on his upper legs at a steady rate.

"Oh, hello! Come to make a deposit?" he called excitedly. Alex rolled his eyes.

"No, I'm looking for Lucius the Sage. Surely he uses the bank?" the preteen asked roughly.

"Well…" he trailed off mysteriously, causing Alex to glare at him. "Maybe, but I can't tell you where he lives. That's the rules. That and I don't know, actually," Starting to get quite irritated, Alex spun and left the shop with all haste, grumbling under his breath. The old man shook his head at the rudeness of youngsters these days.

A few more minutes' walk later, during which he passed the closed, and rather shady-looking, Curiosity Shop and asked every person he came across and gleaned no useful information, he finally arrived in Inner South Clock City as the clock tower chimed 11. Now getting positively miffed, Alex stopped a nearby old man, clad in a black cowl, over another layer or two of cloth, carrying a gleaming silver staff. His face was hidden by a hood so that only his white beard was visible.

"Hey, old man! Do you know where I can find someone?" he snapped at the elderly gentleman.

"Hmm…well, you could always check Inner East Clock City, but you should be more respectful of others if you want to succeed in life," the timeworn fellow replied calmly.

"Hmph, whatever…I'm in a hurry, greybeard," Alex hurriedly rushed off for Inner East Clock City. The old man shook his head and continued on his way.

As Alex passed a café in Inner East Clock City, he came to realize he hadn't eaten since early morning. Seeing as he had a few rupees in his wallet, he decided to go in and get something to eat.

"Hello, welcome to the Tei Café, named after our Governor," the man at the counter said.

"Yeah, yeah, give me some beef sandwiches and a small bottle of milk," Alex said impatiently.

"Okay…30 rupees," the guy replied. Alex grumbled about the expense but forked over a few blue rupees.

Ten minutes later, the preteen stepped out of the café, fuller but not much less annoyed at how hard it was to find Lucius. He'd not taken five steps when a familiar voice called out to him.

"I say, young man, who are you looking for? Perhaps I can help," it was the old man from earlier.

"I doubt that, gramps," Alex brushed past him and headed up the road, eventually arriving in Inner North Clock City in 30 minutes. It was pretty much nothing but a big city park up here. Alex looked around for a few minutes and, finding nothing, kicked over a random sand-castle in a sandbox. Naturally, a kid was nearby and, seeing his creation demolished, started wailing loudly.

"Shut up!" Alex barked at the bawling youth.

"Hey!" a group of five preteens, all wearing blue bandannas (except for the leader, who had a red one) and numbered shirts ran up. "Are you causing trouble?!"

"Your whole stupid city is causing trouble for me, you idiots!" Alex barked.

"That's it! Boys, let's teach this thug a lesson!" the leader, Joe, shouted. Alex quickly jumped back as two of the Bombers lunged at him. He whipped out his sword and took a swipe but it was ducked by Joe as he dealt an uppercut to Alex's jaw and sent him sprawling and his sword flying. He rolled over and jumped up as the Bombers advanced on him. He gave a jabbing punch at one but another smashed him across the face with a punch. Several hits soon followed, leaving him twitching and bruised on the ground. "Don't come back here again!" Joe declared as he and his posse left.

"Blast it…" Alex coughed, blood trickling from his split lip. A quiet chuckling caused him to shoot a pained gaze in its general direction.

"You're no warrior, that's for sure," the old man was back. "Those kids should have been no match for you, as you were armed and they were not,"

"They just caught me off guard!" Alex snarled painfully.

"Hmm…a poor excuse…" the old man shrugged, holding up his free hand. A blue light glowed around it. All of Alex's wounds glowed blue and healed. "You shame the green tunic of the Hero," Alex stood up, strength restored. His eyes widened.

"You…you're Lucius?!" he declared with disbelief, gritting his teeth.

"Hmm…perhaps…" the oldster shrugged dismissively. "Why? Do you wish to speak with him?"

"Of course!" Alex jumped to his feet with an air of determination, grabbing his sword. "I came all this way to get training from him. I want to be a great hero like my grandfather!"

"Hmm…I see…" was the calm, pensive reply. "That would be Link, then?"

"Yes, my mother said so," Alex confirmed. "She also said that I could find the legendary Sage, Lucius in Clock City, in Termina," He crossed his arms and looked critically at the old man. "But I didn't think that it would be some random old man," The old man chuckled.

"Sages are rarely young, young man, as it normally takes many years of intense study to reach such a rank of magical proficiency. It is a bit foolish to think otherwise,"

"Grr…" Alex rolled his eyes. "Look, old man, if you're really Lucius, then train me! I want to be like my grandfather!"

"Such selfishness and lack of manners," Lucius shook his head. "You have not the qualities of a hero,"

"I promised Mom…I won't just let you ignore me!" Alex demanded, brandishing his sword. The older man seemed quite unfazed by the weapon.

"Very well…" Lucius sighed with a resigned shrug. "For Maya's sake, I will do what I can. Meet me here tomorrow morning at 11:00," He turned and started to walk away.

"Hey, wait!" Alex shouted, but the old man dissolved into black vapor and vanished. "Blast it!" He kicked a nearby swing. 'Well, I guess all I can do is meet that geezer tomorrow, like he said,'

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**I finally got my laptop functioning properly again, so, as long as I find the inspiration, I should be able to work on this story. I have up to chapter 6 outlined, so, with luck, I'll get to typing it between assignments and whatnot. Remember that reviews are the best way to give feedback and, yes, I know that this story is probably not a new idea, but, then again, what is nowadays? Anyway, see you next chapter.**


	2. Arduous Training and the Less than Ideal

**Here's chapter 2 of this tale. Lame references to the games are here, as what kind of Zelda thing would this be without them? After all, that's part of the fun of the actual games!**

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**Chapter 2: Arduous Training and the Less than Ideal Student**

Thursday, 11:00, Inner North Clock City

Alex walked into North Clock City as ordered, the following day.

'Where is that old man, anyway?' he wondered grumpily as he looked around the playground.

"Hey! I thought I told you to stay outta here!" Joe shouted, surrounded by his mates.

"Blast it!" Alex reached for his sword.

"Stop it!" Lucius had arrived. His hood was cast back, revealing his long, snowy white hair, tied with a slip-knot band near halfway along its length before it stopped at his waist. His red eyes glinted keenly behind his oval, silver rimmed spectacles that were perched halfway down his nose. His beard was as long as his hair, also reaching his waist. "He is here on my invitation and I will decide when he is to leave," Such surprising force was behind the words of this old man that the Bombers faltered.

"C'mon…" Joe grumbled, walking off sulkily with his group. Lucius watched them go before turning to Alex.

"See how your attitude has already made you enemies?" he said. "The Bombers are friends to the kind, champions of doing good,"

"Yeah, whatever, those idiots would all be in the hospital if they hadn't cheated," Alex grumbled. Lucius sighed, deciding not to correct the lad on missing the point.

"Yes, well…on to the lessons that you pressed so tremendously for," he gestured to the playground equipment. Alex looked skeptically at him. "Climb up onto that wooden pillar and then jump across the smaller ones until you reach the one with the bridge. Cross that and then use the bars to climb over to the next pillar. After that, use the beam to cross to the last pillar, where I have left a red rupee,"

"Sure, that should kill a few minutes," Alex muttered with a roll of the eyes. Lucius closed his eyes and smiled to himself as the preteen stepped forward to begin the task. He managed to climb up the three progressively taller wooden blocks and get to the top of the first wooden pillar. He hesitated at the edge, looking across at the four thinner wooden pillars of equal height that led to the slightly taller one that the bridge connected to. Taking a breath, he got a running start and threw himself forward, almost falling off of the pillar and having to flail to regain his balance.

"Be careful not to over-gauge your jump!" Lucius warned from below, sounding slightly amused.

"Can it, geezer!" Alex snapped, a little breathless. Lucius simply wore a small smile as he watched the preteen carefully hop over to the next pillars. Upon coming to the taller pillar, however, he paused again.

"What's wrong? Just jump at it and grab the ledge. You can pull yourself up from there," the Sage suggested from below.

"Easy for you to say, greybeard!" Alex snapped, eyeing the jump distrustfully. After a minute, he finally decided to go for it, but could barely cling on, despite the reinforced groove that was in the pillar's edge for this very reason. Breathing heavily, Alex struggled up, pushing his feet against the rough wood for momentum. He gasped for a bit, on his hands and knees, once on top of the pillar.

"What's taking so long?" Lucius called. "Are you giving up?"

"No!" Alex stood up at last, a bit sweaty. He tried to hurry across the bridge, but it started listing dangerously to the side the second he set foot on it.

"Don't try to hurry across strange bridges, they might not be stable," Lucius cautioned.

"Thanks for the update!" Alex barked from where he had jumped back in surprise. Lucius just chuckled. Alex tried to cross again, clinging to the ropes whenever the bridge threatened to throw him off. "This…is too…dangerous for kids…" Alex gasped upon getting to the other side. "The Governor should be sacked!"

"Well, I _did_ put a couple of touches on it before you arrived," Lucius said from beside him.

"Ahh!" Alex jumped a couple of inches in the air. "How the Dark World did you get up here?"

"The same way you did, but faster," Lucius shrugged.

"No way! You must have teleported or something!" Alex countered. Lucius shrugged and then approached the meter and a half of monkey bars that led to the last platform. He easily jumped up and grabbed them before crossing with the agility of a much younger man, still clutching his staff, nonetheless! Alex's jaw dropped. "You…you must have cheated!" he managed to say.

"That comes far too readily from your mouth," Lucius replied patiently. "Now come over here," Alex crossed much less gracefully than Lucius had and his pace only slowed as he got to the end, as his arms were burning like fire and felt like they were about to cramp. "Just a little more…" the old Sage coaxed with a hint of teasing. Alex crossed the last four bars and finally dropped onto the pillar, arms limp at his sides and feeling like noodles. "Well, that was a new record, only 60 minutes," Lucius said.

"Don't patronize me," the preteen grumbled. "I sucked,"

"Perhaps…but that's only because you haven't trained enough, that all," Lucius picked up the red rupee. "I'll take this, as I made it first,"

"H-Hey!" Alex objected, but Lucius was already climbing down the series of wooden blocks that formed a ladder on the side of the pillar.

"Come, we're going back to my flat, its lunchtime," the old man continued.

After Alex managed to get down, he accompanied Lucius to East Clock City, his arms still throbbing and threatening to cramp up. The Sage had his hood up again and no one looked twice at him.

"So _that's_ how you keep such a low profile," Alex deduced. "These people are so stupid,"

"_You_ didn't recognize me either, you know," Lucius reminded him as the turned around another corner on the sidewalk and onto Kafei Avenue. Alex shot him a dark look.

At length, they came to a one-floor house that looked like it had been there for years. The windows were covered by black drapes and the door was made of very weathered-looking wood. A pull-chain dangled next to the door, but Lucius ignored it as he stepped on the mat and fished an old silver key out of his pocket.

"You live here?" Alex's tone told what he thought of the place.

"Well, it keeps the rain off of my possessions," Lucius shrugged and opened the door. Once Alex was in, he shut the door. The place was a bit musty-smelling. The front room had a few hooks for cloaks and hats and a rouge rug sat in the middle of the room. Lucius took off his black cowl and hung it on a hook, revealing his glittering silver robes that seemed to glow faintly with hidden power. Alex rubbed his eyes as the old man left the room through the far door, wondering if the glow was just a trick of the light. Following further, Alex came to a dining room with a scrubbed but old-looking wooden table, with matching chairs. The room was lit by a few candles lit with, Alex noticed, white-silver flames, hanging on a chandelier which, by magic, probably, lit as the Sage entered the room. The walls were all plain wood in all of the rooms, like most buildings in Clock City that had been built when the city had still been a town. Lucius didn't take long in coming back into the room from, presumably, the kitchen, as the far door in this room was where he was bringing the food from. He had a loaf of good bread, half a round of wax-covered cheese, a couple of joints of beef, and a pitcher of milk.

Alex enjoyed this simple but delicious fare far more than the complimentary breakfast at the inn. Naturally, he would never admit this to the old man, though it was obvious in the way he ate it eagerly. Lucius allowed himself a small smile before diving into a lecture about manners and how not to be rude to people to get what you want. People wouldn't always respond well to his brusque way of doing things, he warned. Alex ignored most of the lecture and finally interrupted impatiently.

"Can we just hurry up and get back to the training?" he cut across during the segment on table manners. Lucius sighed.

"All right, fine," he stood and started gathering up the plates and food remnants. "We need to work on your swordsmanship, anyway…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alex challenged as the kitchen doors swung shut. He was ignored. "Geezer..." he grumbled.

An hour after they had left, they were back at the playground. This time, Lucius, now back in his cowl, had elected to find an area that had few obstacles in it.

"All right, the basics of the sword are, 1, keep your grip firm. If you lose your weapon when you're hit, you've probably already lost. 2…"

"You're boring me. Can we just get to whatever scheme you have planned?" Alex interrupted impatiently. Lucius shook his head.

"So restless…it would do you good to learn some basics," he replied.

"Yeah, whatever, I know how to hold on to my weapon," Alex said dismissively.

"All right, if you say so," Lucius decided not to point out that he had watched the preteen lose his weapon just the previous day. "Draw your sword," Alex did so.

"Now what?" he asked, looking around for a target. Lucius held his staff out.

"Attack me," he ordered.

"What? I don't want to hurt you, old man," Alex objected. Lucius chuckled.

"Don't worry about that,"

"Okay, fine…" Alex rushed at him, attempting to cut across his torso. Lucius brought his staff up to block with a resounding clang. Skillfully, he deflected the blow and batted Alex back with a kick to the chest. The preteen rolled backwards and landed on his butt. Scrambling back to his feet, he angrily charged at the Sage. Lucius skillfully dodged a stab, deflected another, and disarmed Alex with an upward swipe of his staff.

"You don't even know the basic fundamentals of combat," Lucius shook his head as Alex went to retrieve his sword from where it had embedded itself in the ground. "Of course, I'm in a different league, altogether, but…" He pushed his glasses up a bit.

"So modest…" Alex said scathingly.

"Here," Lucius offered Alex a silver card.

"What's this?" Alex grumbled, examining the card.

"It's a membership card to the Swordsman's School in West Clock City," the Sage replied. "Go there and learn the fundamentals of swordplay," He teleported away like before.

"Hey! Why should I have to…ugh…"Alex grumbled to himself for a couple of minutes before deciding to head over to West Clock City and give this Swordsman's School a shot.

It took half an hour and much rude asking around before Alex managed to find the large, brick dojo that was positioned against the outer side of the inner wall of West Clock City. He barged in, being quickly stopped by the receptionist, a guy in a white tunic and shoes, bearing a sword on his belt.

"Hold!" the man demanded. "What is your business in Sensei's Dojo?"

"Lucius told me to come here to learn how to use a sword," Alex responded brusquely, flashing the silver card impatiently. "Where's the head guy?"

"Go on in. He is not busy at the moment," the receptionist stepped aside and allowed the preteen to pass through some white curtains. In the next room, an old man with very long hair sat, cross-legged, on a velvet cushion. He wore a white tunic, as the other man did, though his sword lay across his lap, sheathed, and the old man clasped it gently.

"Hello, my child," the old man said serenely. "I am Swordmaster Sensei," He indicated that Alex sit on a cushion in front of him. Alex, throwing the man an impudent look, slowly obeyed. "Now, I sense a great talent in you, the talent of the Hero. A young man came in here, many years ago, and requested training of me. He had little to learn, only refinement was required. You, however, know little of the blade. You smell of defeat and impatience," Alex growled.

"So what, old man?" he snapped. "I'm the grandson of the Hero! I'll take out anyone that gets in my way," Sensei stood quickly. Alex jumped up and took what he thought to be a defensive position with his blade.

"Can you carve a path through friend and foe alike, shunning all help and choosing the path of selfishness?" Sensei asked gravely. "Such a path, one man tried to take, almost his ruin. You will meet him, I am sure,"

"Can it!" Alex attacked the old man. In a flash, Sensei's blade was free from its sheath and deflected the clumsy stab. Alex took several more swings at his elder. He blocked, dodged, and deflected them effortlessly.

"Your strikes are clumsy. Your style is unrefined," Sensei commented calmly as he warded off the assault with ease. "One does not simply swing a sword at an opponent and call himself a swordsman," He easily disarmed Alex and sent him reeling with a kick. Alex's expression of anger quickly became one of shock as a blade was pressed, gently but noticeably, to his throat. "Touché, young man," He removed the blade and replaced it in the sheath with practiced ease. "Now, if you'll retrieve your weapon, we'll cover some basics," Alex, flushed with anger and humiliation, glared at the teacher and then slowly went over to where his sword was lying on the floor. Picking it up, he turned to Sensei.

"Okay, old man, what do you have to say?" he grumbled, coming back over, but keeping a safe distance away.

"Such impudence..." Sensei shook his head. "Oh, well, I cannot choose the attitude of my students," He shrugged. "All right, first of all, stances," He whipped out his blade and took a defensive stance. "This is a defensive stance. Notice how I am holding my weapon firmly in front of me at a 45 degree angle, using two hands for more leverage, and my feet are apart like so," He then held his arm in front of him and his blade at the ready behind him. "This is a defensive stance for one who uses a shield. When the foe's attack has been blocked, this will help you counterattack more effectively," Alex mimicked the stances clumsily. "That's not quite right, but practice will make perfect. Now, for attack stances..."

Alex returned to the inn, rather tired and a bit miffed, around 18 o'clock. The wolf howled as he trudged upstairs to his room. Entering, he locked the door behind him and went about quickly devouring the complementary meal on the table, though it was not to his _taste_ at all. This done, he went to bed as the clock tower chimed 19:00.

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**Ah, tutorial references and the sword guy from Majora's Mask still being alive, somehow, and having gotten much more serene and whatnot over the years. Yes, his name is actually Sensei. It's a joke I like to do, for some reason, as it's kind of a pun, seeing as 'sensei' means 'teacher'. Anyway, review if you have feedback and I'll see you next chapter, whenever that is.**


	3. A Taste of Heroism

**Chapter 3: A Taste of Heroism**

Friday, 5:00, Inner East Clock City, Stock Pot Inn

Alex managed to sleep 10 hours, that night. He was loath to stir, hearing the clock tower toll 5:00, as his muscles were very sore from the strenuous activities of the previous day. Creeping out of his room, he went to the washroom down the hall and took a quick bath. As he had to heat the water in a kettle over a small fire, which he had to start, it still took him 40 minutes. He encountered another patron, a thick-set man, as he left the bathroom, justifying leaving the fire burning. He headed downstairs, almost colliding with the innkeeper as he bustled upstairs with a tray of several plates of steaming cucco eggs and bacon.

"I'll have yours in a minute, young sir," the harassed-looking man in a plaid shirt and purple slacks said hastily. "Got to get breakfast to the Earnest crowd, they're off at dawn, see?" Alex decided to ignore this and went downstairs to wait for the innkeeper's return. This was a minute or two later. The man hurried by, bustling down the corridor to the kitchen. The sounds of hasty cooking could be heard, even at the front of the inn, and the man rushed out, a couple of minutes later, with a crappy breakfast for Alex. He took it and ate it slowly, as it was hot and not that good. If Alex had tasted the original owner's cooking, he would have rectified his opinion, but that is beside the point.

Alex finally stepped outside as the clock tower tolled 6:00 and a rooster crowed in the distance, leaving his plate behind on the counter for the keeper to find.

"Ah, Alex, up early, I see?" Lucius asked suddenly, scaring Alex and making him jump and draw his sword.

"Oh, it's you," the preteen frowned, putting away his weapon and trying to hide his increased breathing. "What do you want, old man?"

"Just to see if you learned anything yesterday," Lucius replied with a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm sore all over from that stupid obstacle course and that Sensei beat me up for hours with his stupid sword lessons," Alex complained loudly. "How do you look at yourself in the mirror in the morning?"

"Your standards are too high, you know," the Sage shrugged. "You stand at the beginning of a long road. An aspiring hero must expect to experience a few bumps,"

"A few bumps?" Alex repeated incredulously. "Are you daft, old geezer? At the rate these 'bumps' of yours are going, I'll be lucky to live another week!"

"Oh? Well, I suppose you would prefer a hands-on experience, then?" He pulled out a letter and unfolded it. "The Governor, Tei, has requested that I go to the Deku Kingdom, south of this city, and personally purchase some important medical herbs. The city is running low on them, and they only grow in the Southern Swamp. The trouble is, the Dekus aren't very willing to sell to Clock City's government, at the moment, so Tei theorizes that a lone merchant from here, i.e. an inconspicuous old man, can go in and buy the herbs personally and have them shipped here,"

"What, and you want me to go for you?" Alex asked skeptically, crossing his arms. "Why? You're so great, you could do this with your arms tied together,"

"Well, this is true," Lucius stated with a slow nod.

"Still so modest," Alex intoned sarcastically.

"But this would be a good opportunity for you to sample what it is that a Hero does," the Sage continued doggedly. "From saving the world to finding medicine, a Hero can quickly and efficiently complete his task,"

"Fine, fine, if you say so," Alex relented. "Whatever makes you stop quoting poetry faster," Lucius smiled and pulled an official-looking wooden card from his pocket.

"Here is a pass to get into the Deku Kingdom," he explained, handing the card over. Alex examined the writing on It briefly before five orange rupees were placed in his other hand. "And here is 100 rupees for the tolls,"

"What's the other 400 for?" Alex inquired with a cock of the eyebrow and a cocky smirk. "Paying me off?"

"No," Lucius intoned with mild amusement. "Those 400 will cover an upgrade in equipment for you," He briefly remembered a time, long ago, when he had given Link a similar speech. "Go to the Trading Post in West Clock Town. You will need a Leather Tunic, Leather Boots-"

"These are leather," Alex objected, pointing at his footwear.

"Not the sturdy kind that good travelling boots are made of," the Sage answered patiently. "And you'll need to get a Terminan Shield, as well. The armor should protect you from minor attacks and the shield will help you avoid getting hit,"

"Yes, the Sensei told me about that," Alex said impatiently. "But I don't see why I have to bother with this. I can probably handle whatever's out there in Termina Field,"

"You can't be sure of that," Lucius chastised mildly, handing over the letter, as well. "Now, go. This is but one small task of many in the works of a Hero," With that, the old man dissolved into black vapor and vanished.

"I hate it when he does that," Alex grumbled, shoving the money into his wallet and setting off on the long walk to Inner West Clock Town.

An hour later, Alex was back at the trading post. He waded back through the musty shelves of random curios and approached the surfer-looking guy.

"Oh, it's you again, dude," the guy commented. "Need somethin'?"

"Yeah, I need a Leather Tunic, Leather Boots, and a Terminan Shield," Alex said brusquely.

"Oh, uh, sure," the guy looked around under the counter. "I think I have that stuff somewhere. Hold on, bro," He wandered off into the back room. Alex sighed in impatient irritation. Three minutes later, a loud series of clatters heralded the dude's return with a folded brown tunic in his arms. He balanced a pair of boots on top of this bundle and tried to angle the shield amongst his arms and the items. Stumbling over something out of view on the floor, the dude fell forward and dropped the objects on the counter, smacking his face in the process. "Here, dude," the guy moaned in pain. "400 rupees,"

"Here," Alex smacked four orange rupees onto the counter.

"Please come again, dig?" the guy sat down in a chair that was behind the counter.

"Yeah, sure," the preteen mumbled, grabbing the stuff and struggling out with it. He knocked over a couple of shelves, causing a cavalcade of noise and an avalanche of junk, mixed with the surfer-dude's cries of anguish, but Alex ignored him and walked out the door.

After slipping into an alley to swap out his equipment, Alex emerged feeling quite uncomfortable just as, had he known it, Link had when he first donned a Leather Tunic. Though there was a soft layer of cloth beneath the leather, it was stiff and difficult to move in. The boots felt hard and had less give than the ones that he had been wearing and the shield banged uncomfortably on his back as he walked. His new hat was as stiff and uncomfortable as the tunic, making his hair chafe against his scalp a bit. 'How am I supposed to fight in all of this junk?' he wondered with a frown. Shaking his head, he pulled out the letter and looked briefly over it. 'All right. Time to head out.' he stuffed the letter back in his pocket and headed down the road, making for the southernmost part of the city, making a pit stop to dump his old gear at the inn in Inner West Clock City.

Around 11:00, he finally made it to the Outer South Gate of Clock City. The guard barely nodded to him as he passed, noticing his sword and shield.

"Be careful out there. Monsters are lurking in the wilderness and the Dekus have been more hostile lately. Watch what you say, if you meet any," the guard warned gruffly.

"Yeah, yeah..." Alex waved his hand dismissively, heading out into the grassy area of Southern Termina Field. Heading down the stone ramp that led up to the city gate, through the stone curb around the city, he set off along the well-travelled stone road that linked the Outer South Gate to the Deku Kingdom's Northern Gate. A few sentient blobs of jelly, for lack of a better description, with eyes perched atop their bulk, jumped from the tall grass that grew in clumps, near the road. Alex easily stopped them from ramming him with their acid-coated bodies, using his new shield, and managed to puncture their hearts with a well-timed jab. Grimacing in disgust, he left the corpses behind to ooze apart as the Chuchus' surface tension disintegrated. A few more attacked him during the half-hour walk, but were also dispatched just as easily. The clock tower tolled once for the half hour as Alex approached the tall, wooden gates of the Deku Kingdom. The gate was flanked by tall, wooden spires, each with a Deku Soldier atop them, and was several feet thick, with a parapet on top for three more guards to stand on, not to mention the guard house attached to the back, which doubled as the toll booth, as it were.

"Halt!" a Deku cried, in a squeaky voice, from atop the wall. "We're ordered not to let any Terminans through!"

"I'm Hylian!" Alex protested angrily.

"Same thing!" the Deku retorted. "Go away or we'll open fire!"

"I've got a pass! Let me in!" he barked, holding up the wooden card. The Deku grabbed a large flower from his back and lifted into the air, holding onto it as its pedals spun. Landing in front of Alex, the Deku grabbed the wooden card and looked over it.

"Oh, so you're working for a merchant, huh?" he said flatly. "Fine, whatever," He turned. "Open up!" The two other Dekus on top of the gate turned the large winch and the gate slowly swung open. The Deku soldier walked through the gate with Alex. "Okay, mister merchant assistant, it's 25 rupees to enter the Deku Kingdom,"

"That's highway robbery!" Alex objected. "The Zoras only charge 15!"

"That's them! We are us! Pay up, Terminan!" the Deku demanded. Alex grumbled and pulled out the orange rupee.

"I hope you have change," he grumbled.

"Of course we do, idiot!" the Deku ran into the guard house and came out with three red rupees, a yellow rupee, and a blue rupee. "Here! Now get going!" he shoved the money into the preteen's hands and then gave him a push down the stone path as the gate closed behind him.

"Okay, okay, quit shoving!" Alex complained loudly, heading on down the path. There were many trees, not surprising, as the path cut through part of the Deku Woods. The smell of the swamp, getting progressively stronger as he went, however, was not pleasant and Alex soon had his face scrunched up against the pungent smell of mud and muck. Finally, the path opened onto an area with a building on stilts. The building had a sign out front that read: Tourist Center and Boat Rides. Underneath that was a notice about temporary discontinuity of tourism and boat rides that were now run by the military. Alex sighed and approached one of the boats under the building.

"Halt!" one of the two Deku soldiers shouted. "What are you doing here?" The preteen groaned in annoyance.

"I'm a merchant's assistant. I've been sent to buy some medical herbs," Alex told them impatiently.

"Well, then you need to go to Oakington," one of the soldiers responded loudly. "We will take you there for 25 rupees, but it will take a couple of hours,"

"25? I could just walk there instead of paying 25 rupees for a 2-hour boat ride!" the preteen objected.

"Well, you could, but you might get lost in the Deku Woods, and it would take longer to walk, not to mention that the sentries are patrolling and have been told not to let anyone through but Dekus," the soldier informed him. "So shut up and pay up or go home!"

"Yeah, yeah..." Alex fished out a red rupee and a blue rupee. "I don't suppose you have any magazines or anything on the boat?"

"Nope," the Deku soldier replied smugly.

"Figures..."

"And you just sent a random kid to go do it?!" the Captain-in-Chief of the Clock City Army, Ashard, barked. "We assigned this to you, specifically, Lucius!" The gold-armor-clad man stood, sword at hip and fist clenched angrily in front of him, next to the Governor's large desk. He glared at Lucius with is brown eyes, his short, brown hair laying down on his head.

"I had a good reason," Lucius responded evenly. "I believe that Alex can handle this task. It would do his potential a disservice to deny him this opportunity,"

"But, Lucius," the Governor, a beautiful woman, with her long, purple hair in a twined braid down her back, wearing a silken violet robe with a gold-lined white mantle over the top, moved her reddish-brown eyes from her templed fingertips to the Sage. "These herbs are very important. They are used in many of our medicines and, if war is to break out, we need a good supply,"

"I do not believe that war is as close as you think, Governor," Lucius inclined his head slightly. "Daagwoode's kingdom and Igus du Ikana have always had disputes with Clock City, since time immemorial, but has not come to war since the incident with Majora's Remnants's possession of Vaati,"

"That means that tensions have had that long to build up!" Ashard objected hotly. "I agree with the Governor, we need those herbs and you have sent a greenhorn adventurer to purchase and collect them!"

"Alex will do admirably," Lucius stated firmly. "You have always taken my advice, to your betterment, so why doubt it now?" He turned to leave. "Remember, paranoia and distrust can wither even the mightiest of countries,"

"As can lax watch and over trust," Ashard called after the Sage as he closed the door.

The clock tower tolled 14:00 by the time that the boat finally pulled up at the wooden dock at Oakington. As the Deku had explained during the trip, Oakington was a Deku town that made its living off of the growth and sale of medicinal plants, including the one in question. Alex disembarked on the boat, paying no mind to the chaperones on the boat, he approached the nearest Deku.

"Hey! Where can I buy medical herbs around here?" he asked brusquely. The Deku looked highly offended.

"In the southern part of town!" she squeaked indignantly, shaking her head leaves in irritation and walking off. Alex groaned, looking at the scale of the place, and started walking. The buildings were, of course, made of wood, and of surprisingly good structures, considering the stature and build of the typical Deku.

30 minutes later, Alex heard a loud commotion as the houses thinned and more gardens could be seen by the wood-embedded path.

'What now?' he wondered, heading towards the source of the commotion.

"Subdue them!" a Deku commander shouted as two dozen Deku soldiers battled with a dozen blue Bokoblins that were rampaging around the fields, destroying plants and hacking at Dekus with their wooden axes. There were many wounded. "Get more troops over!" he shouted to his aide.

"What's up?!" Alex approached the commander.

"These cursed Bokoblins just showed up out of the woods and started attacking our gardens!" the commander shouted angrily, shaking his leaves. "We're getting our carapaces handed to us!"

"I'm looking to buy some of these herbs," Alex said, an idea coming to mind. "I'll help out if you get me some,"

"Okay, sure, fine!" the commander barked. "I'll see about it after my men aren't dying!" Two of the Bokoblins suddenly broke through the defensive line and charged at them. The commander shot a few Deku Nuts at them, slowing the slightly with the sizeable projectiles. Alex whipped out his sword and shield, managing to block an axe with his shield and jump away from the second. He dodged another strike and rammed one Bokoblin in the face with his shield before deflecting a strike from the other, with his sword, and punching him in the face with his shield. The commander distracted the other Bokoblin with more nuts while Alex took advantage of the stun effect of his shield strike and decapitated the Bokoblin, causing blood to spray from the severed artery. He looked away quickly and fought the urge to puke. This, unfortunately, gave the second Bokoblin time to kick the commander aside and launch an attack on the preteen in retaliation. The blow to the chest sent Alex reeling and onto his back. Luckily, the armor managed to absorb the weak blow enough to reduce it to a weak bruise and only leave a cut in the front of the tunic. Rolling aside, Alex avoided the follow-up, downward strike and, on instinct, slashed upwards, severing the axe arm. The Bokoblin howled in pain until the Deku commander spun into it with a blade and slashed its torso, putting it out of commission. The two rushed towards the rest of the fray, where the other soldiers had managed to defeat two of the Bokoblins, and charged in. Using the distractions that the Dekus were causing, Alex managed to easily defeat several of the opponents without too much effort, though his arm was starting to hurt from the force required for hacking through flesh and bone. Finally, the battle was over. Alex panted a bit as he sheathed his bloody sword.

"That...that wasn't so tough..." he said with false bravado, wiping his forehead with a ginger movement of his arm.

"Well, I talked to the Deku in charge of the herbs and he decided to give you a discount," the commander, sporting a chip out of his face, reported. "Just what herbs did you need?" Alex, with a bit of difficulty, due to his aching muscles, fished out the letter and read out the order. "Okay, I'll go have them sent to..."

"Clock City," Alex replied. The commander frowned.

"Well, whatever, as long as we get paid," he shrugged. "If you hadn't done us a favor, I might have some objections to this. I will tell the Herb Master," he hurried off. Alex sighed and began the trek back to the boat dock. 45 minutes later, he paid 25 rupees for a return trip. As he boarded, he saw a large crate being, carried by a dozen airborne Deku, flying off towards Clock City. Thankfully, the city, as per tradition, would pay be money-order on delivery, so that spared Alex that little hurtle. As the boat set off, Alex sank into thought, thinking of his first adventure, battle, and the concept of taking lives. He still felt a bit queasy from all the Bokoblins he'd helped kill.

It was 17:53 by the time he staggered through the Outer South Clock Town gate, 25 more rupees poorer from the Deku Kingdom's exit toll. He hadn't even complained about it. That's how tired he was.

"Ah, Alex!" Lucius was waiting for him. "The herbs just arrived half an hour ago,"

"Good," the preteen muttered.

"I knew that I made the right choice," the old Sage smiled. "Now, I know that you are, likely, a bit tired from your endeavors, this day," Alex gave him an incredulous look, as best he could. "But, come. We must humor the Governor, for a brief time. She wishes to congratulate you on your success, and , I'm sure that Captain-in-Chief Ashard will have a few things to say as well," he smirked a little at that thought. "At any rate, come," Alex groaned in annoyance, but allowed himself to be steered along the road by the Sage's wrinkled but strong hand. There was less traffic about town, as it was getting close to nightfall, and they were able to travel a bit more quickly than they usually would as they avoided the few hurrying passersby. The clock tower tolled 18:00 as they turned up Viscen Boulevard and headed north towards the Inner East Clock City gate. "So, how did you like your first taste of heroism?" Lucius asked conversationally.

"...was okay..." Alex muttered.

"You have quite a bit of blood on you, I can only assume that here was trouble in Oakington?" the sage commented.

"Yeah...some Bokoblins..." the preteen muttered. A Deku had mentioned the name to him. "Helped fight them off..."

"So you've probably realized that the sword holds the power of life and death," Lucius said gravely, though still rather lightly. "The blade of a Hero is for defending lives and, sometimes, must take them to defend others. However, compassion is not a bad trait, necessarily, but do not dwell overlong on your enemies fates, or you may share them."

"Easy for you to say, old man," Alex grumbled. "You've been doing this for years,"

"Well, I'm not too keen on getting down and dirty," Lucius shrugged. "I'm a Sage, after all, I strike my enemies indirectly. This staff is to beat off any that get to close," He chuckled. "Not that many do,"

"Yeah, you're awesome, whatever..." Alex muttered.

It was 19:03 by the time they arrived at the Governor's Residence. It was a large manor, surrounded by a tall, steel spear fence, in which there was one gate, flanked by two silver-armor-clad soldiers with spears in hand and swords on their belts.

"Ah, Lucius, and the boy," one of the guards said gruffly. "Captain-in-Chief Ashard is awaiting you in the Governor's Office," Lucius nodded.

"All right. Come, Alex," he led the preteen through the gates as they were pulled open by two soldiers on the other side. The duo headed up the stone path, towards the grand oaken front doors. Alex, tired though he was, looked around at the vast courtyard, numerous patrolling guards, and large mansion. All of this was nestled against the Inner Clock City wall, making this place fairly unassailable, save by going through the gates and courtyard. Lucius smiled at the look of haggard wonder on Alex's face, leading him past two more soldiers, which stood beside the oaken doors. The doors were opened from the inside, by two more soldiers, and the duo stepped into the main chamber. It was large, well-furnished with tapestries and carpets, rich in color. There were many doors leading off of the main hall and two staircases leading around a large fountain, heading out of sight to, presumably, the upper floors.

"Man...this place is big," Alex commented, looking around.

"Yes, it is," the Sage smiled. "Tei is on the second floor. There will be time to look around later. She doesn't need to stay up too late, after all,"

"Yeah, okay, let's go see the old lady, then," Alex rolled his eyes and followed the Sage towards the stairs. Lucius decided not to comment, chuckling to himself, and led the way past the fountain, which had a figurine of Mayor Kafei and his wife, Anju, in the middle of it. Water sprayed from the figures' fingers, ears, and from Kafei's staff.

"Ah, Lucius," a tall, brown-haired man in gold armor approached as they reached the just as grand corridor on the second floor, gold helm under his right arm and his left hand on the hilt of the sword at his hip. "The Governor is waiting," He gestured them to follow him. They proceeded past the many decorative windows that faced out towards the city, allowing a good view of Inner East Clock City. "So," he continued as they walked. "I assume that you are the boy called Alex?"

"Yeah," Alex replied, a bit annoyed at being called a boy. "Who are you?"

"Ah, yes, I am the Captain-in-Chief of the Clock City Guard, Ashard," he stopped in front of an ornate door, which was next to a secretary's desk, and held out a hand. Alex reluctantly shook it.

"Oh, hey, there, Captain," the green-haired receptionist said in a flirty way. "The Governor is still waiting for those two," she winked at Alex, who blushed slightly. She turned to the horn on the corner of her desk. "Governor, Lucius and the kid are here," the sound traveled through the connected tube and into the office.

"All right, send them in," came the reply. Alex grumbled at being called a kid, but Lucius nudged him into the office as Ashard opened the door.

"Your excellency," Ashard bowed to the purple-haired woman behind the desk. "I have brought them,"

"Ah, hello," Tei stood, clutching her Governor's Staff, which was gold and bore the silver crest of Clock City, as Ashard stepped aside to reveal them. Alex and Lucius stepped forward and the Captain-in-Chief closed the door behind them. "I am Governor Tei of Clock City," Alex stared as she gracefully came around the desk to stand a little more than arm length away from them. Lucius glanced at Alex, noticed his lapse in concentration, and, quickly replied for him.

"This is Alex, forgive his lack of responsiveness, as he has had a rough time in the Deku Kingdom," The Sage elbowed him again.

"Huh? What?" the preteen looked at Lucius.

"Tell her what happened," the Sage responded, nodding towards Tei.

"Oh...uh, r-right. Yeah," he inhaled and started to slowly tell the tale.

"...and then the old man dragged me over here," Alex concluded, now a bit drunk on his own prowess. "All in all, it was pretty easy," he proclaimed cockily. Tei smiled. Lucius broke out snickering.

"What?!" Alex snapped at him.

"Oh...I, um, remembered a good joke that I heard the other day," the Sage quickly covered.

"Well," Tei called their attention back to her. "As thanks for your services, I'm giving you 200 rupees," she handed over a silver rupee. "And a pass to come into my manor," She handed him a golden card. "Please understand that there are some areas that you won't be allowed to go into and I might not be available, sometimes,"

"Um...thanks, ma'am," Alex clumsily bowed, hiding his blush. Tei giggled. Lucius managed to hide his chuckle as a cough.

"Do you need a lozenge?" Tei inquired, looking a little worried.

"Oh, no, no. I'm fine," Lucius shook his head. "Well, Alex, it's getting late. We should leave the Governor alone for the night," Alex snapped out of his daze.

"Oh...yeah. Good night, miss," he bowed clumsily again. Lucius bowed, as well, and then steered the preteen out.

"That boy is a piece of work," Ashard commented after the door was closed behind them.

"Well, yes, but he's a good person, at heart," Tei answered thoughtfully. "Alex...hmm..."

"So, did you like her?" Lucius smirked as they passed out of the gates and back into Inner East Clock City.

"Ah, she was okay," Alex responded nonchalantly, waving his hand dismissively.

"Yes, and the reason that you couldn't take your eyes off of her was because of your exhaustion," the Sage teased.

"Yes, I'm tired!" Alex snapped, hiding a blush. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going back to the inn!" He stalked off.

"Oh, well. I guess I'll see him tomorrow," he shrugged before fading into black vapor.

Alex barged into the inn as the clock tower rang out 20:00.

"Oh, Mr. Alex!" the innkeeper huffed as he paused in the middle of the closing up process. "I put your meal in your room just a few minutes ago, as I saw you coming though one of the upper windows. Have a good night, sir!" With that, he jogged off again. Alex tiredly trudged up to his room and, opening it with his room key, went in. Locking the door behind him, he fell, immediately, upon the poor-tasting steak and broccoli that was waiting on the small table, as he hadn't eaten since that morning. After consuming this repast, he collapsed on his bed and immediately dropped off to sleep, the fatigue of the day finally catching up to him.


	4. The Mountains of Snowhead

**Chapter 4: The Mountains of Snowhead**

Saturday, 7:00, Inner East Clock City, Stock Pot Inn

Alex woke to the tolling of the clock tower, the following morning. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and put on his hat. Standing, he reattached his baldric and the sword and shield accompanying them, before heading to the bathroom for a quick bath. Luckily, the fire was already going, so he managed to finish in 20 minutes. Returning to his room, he quickly ate his crappy complementary breakfast, feeling that it was a bit creepy for the innkeeper to always manage to know when his tenants wanted things, and decided to head out and see what this day had in store for him. If he had known, he would have, probably, gone back to bed.

As the clock tower tolled 8:00, he stepped out into the morning sun, only to be greeted by Lucius.

"How do you know where I am, all the time, old man?" Alex demanded.

"I'm a Sage," he replied vaguely.

"So? What does that mean?" the preteen pressed. Lucius turned away.

"I trust you enjoyed your taste of heroism, yesterday," he said.

"Stop changing the subject!" Alex snapped. "And you asked that yesterday,"

"You didn't really answer," the Sage shrugged.

"Ask my aching muscles!" the preteen shouted, drawing some attention from passersby as they went about their daily business. "I had to kill about a dozen Bokoblins!"

"Yes, and I see that you haven't repaired or cleaned your tunic," Lucius pointed to the cut in the chest and the blood spatters.

"Mind your own business!" was the retort. The sage's hand glowed green and the outfit was restored to being whole and clean.

"You're welcome," he said before Alex could say anything. "Now, it so happens that I've got another task that has been entrusted to me," he pulled out an open envelope with a letter in it. "But if you're already giving up..."

"I can take on anything you throw at me, geezer!" Alex said cockily.

"I wonder..." Lucius sighed and shrugged in resignation, though he smiled inwardly, as his ruse had worked perfectly. "Well, the Governor has received a report about downed communication lines that link Clock City with the Goron City. All who have gone to investigate have failed to return. Sure you're up for it?"

"Yeah, sure. That doesn't sound too hard. I just go see why the lines are down, right?" Alex responded casually.

"I suppose," the Sage handed over the letter. "But don't take things at face value, young man, or you may find yourself in a lot of trouble," He turned and walked off.

"Yeah, just give advice and run off, geezer!" Alex called after him. "I can do this job in record time!"

After a quick detour to the Inner East Clock City food shop to get some jerky and dried fruit as provisions, Alex, grumbling at the high prices, made his way to North Clock Town, making sure to avoid the park, meaning that he had to take a scenic route. It was 10:13 by the time he reached the Outer North Clock City Gate.

"Hey, kid, make sure you watch out in North Termina Field," the guard warned as he passed. "The Dodongos out there are vicious!"

"Whatever," Alex waved him off and passed through the gate, walking towards the stone ramp at the end of the stone path that led from the gate. This ramp, however, was for Gorons to roll up and leap across to the mountain path beyond. Pedestrians, like Alex, had to take one of the two steep stone ramps next to the Goron ramp, pass through the area below, and go up one of the two ramps on the other side. "What a pain..." the preteen grumbled, descending the left ramp. It was hard to avoid sliding down, but he managed. A huge, armored reptile awaited at the bottom, though. It was a bit startled by his appearance, but quickly shook it off and roared. Alex fell backwards, fumbling for his sword. Scrambling back to his feet, he managed to get his sword and shield in hand. It roared and lunged, trying to bite him. He managed to jump out of the way and tried to stab its face. This was a stupid move, as it was armored there and the blow bounced off harmlessly. The Dodongo spun and back-lashed him with its mighty tail. He flew into the nearby rock wall, crashing into it with heavy force and leaving a spider-web crack where he had hit. He fell to the ground, hacking and spitting up a little blood.

'Blast...this is how it ends...' he thought angrily as the monster inhaled to breath a torrent of flames that would incinerate him. Quite suddenly, though, a black vapor appeared in front of him, quickly forming into a dazzling figure in glowing silver. A huge red flamethrower shot from the Dodongo's mouth at him, but a golden sphere appeared around him and the figure, deflecting the flames harmlessly away. The barrier faded as the Dodongo roared angrily at the newcomer, swiping its tail at him. He turned to vapor briefly to let the appendage go through him, and then fired a brilliant sphere of light from his silver staff. The spell pierced the monster's mighty armor and it exploded into slimy pieces. The figure visibly relaxed and gave a sigh of relief as he turned around.

"I commend you for attacking a giant Dodongo head-on, but it was foolhardy," his hand glowed blue as Alex's life-threatening injuries were repaired. "It's a good thing that I was watching through my Scrying Mirror,"

"I guess I should thank you..." Alex grumbled. "But why are you spying on me?"

"Do I even need to waste time answering that?" the Sage pointed at the spider-web cracks on the nearby rock wall. Alex was about to retort, but the sound of a Dodongo's roar caught their ears from the distance. "At any rate, I recommend that we move on before we have another battle on our hands," Alex was only too happy to agree, though he didn't voice it.

"So, you're coming with me, now?" he asked, instead, as they ascended the nearest ramp that led to the mountain path.

"Well, I might as well, now that I've come all the way out here," the Sage said matter-of-factly.

'At least I can just have him do most of the fighting,' Alex thought in an effort to console himself for having the old man along.

Saturday, Snowhead Foothills, 10:38

The path was steep and the ascent a bit arduous, despite it being Spring, but Lucius seemed to have little trouble. Alex, on the other hand, was already breathing heavily after three minutes.

"Hey, old man, wait!" he wheezed. Lucius turned to look quizzically at him.

"What is it?" he asked. "Surely you don't need a breather?" Alex growled.

"No...but-" he was interrupted when a blue Tektite burst out of a bush and jumped at him. He tried to jump back, but his tired legs caused him to fall back, instead. Lucius killed it with a bolt of light from his staff, in midair, before it could land on the preteen.

"It appears that the monster population is as robust as ever," the Sage commented. "Tektites are rarely alone. We must be cautious,"

"Yeah..." Alex muttered. A bit further along, a dozen blue Tektites leapt from behind rocks and bushes to assault them. Alex tried to block one with his shield, though he was bowled over with it on top of him with the shield between them. It snapped at him, but he managed to throw it to the side and stab it in the belly, killing it. Lucius jumped back from three that attacked him and summoned sizeable stalagmites to pierce through them. As Alex scrambled back to his feet, two more Tektites came at him. He staggered away from the attack of one, but was cut across the face by the leg spikes of the other. He cried out in pain, jabbing at it. The Tektite dodged out of the way and its partner jumped at the preteen. He barely managed to get his shield up, though he managed to brace himself, this time, so that he only staggered from the impact. He kicked the Tektite in the face, repelling it and injuring his foot at the same time, as its mandibles were sharp. Lucius fired several bolts of light at the other six that kept leaping at him, forcing him to dodge, and fried them. Alex took advantage of the Tektite being stunned and stabbed through its eye, killing it. The other, however, immediately jumped on him from behind, biting into his back. Lucius blasted it away with a fireball and incinerated it.

"Quite the workout, eh?" Lucius chuckled, his hand glowing blue and causing a brief drizzle of rain to fall on them, relieving any injuries. Alex glared at him.

"I'm still a newbie. Aren't you supposed to take the brunt of the attacks for me?" he grumbled.

"I did," the Sage answered. "You only had to fight three out of twelve. You can do the math, right?" Alex decided not to even bother replying.

Saturday, 11:04, Mountain Village

The duo came to a large, thick, wooden gate, after a few more Tektite encounters.

"Halt!" a Terminan soldier shouted from atop the gate. "What business do you have on Snowhead?"

"We have been sent by the Governor to investigate the communication lines," Lucius responded.

"Oh, yeah...we got a pigeon about that, earlier," the soldier nodded. "You may pass," The gate swung open to admit them and closed after they were through. Another soldier was waiting on the other side.

"So you're here about the comm lines, huh?" he inquired.

"Yes," Lucius nodded. "What information do you have?"

"Not much," the soldier replied. "Only that no scouts returned from Ikana Ridge. It's a dangerous place up there,"

"Don't tell me. We're heading there," Alex said impudently to Lucius.

"Perhaps, but I think that we should gather more information in Goronopolis, first," the Sage replied sagely. The soldier let them by and the duo headed on through the houses and towards the eastern way out of the village. The locals gave them a few looks, but continued about their business. In a community of about 26 people, there was little idle time. The guards at the eastern gate let them by with no problem.

"There are a lot of Wolfos out there, this time of year," one of the guards warned.

"All right, thanks," Lucius said before Alex could retort. The gates closed behind them. The Sage looked to Alex. "See how smoothly things go with a little manners?"

"Yeah, yeah...you've been telling me that since day one," the preteen said dismissively. Lucius shook his head with a sigh before hastening to catch up. There were a few broken up islands here, connected by wooden suspension bridges that allowed safe passage over the water below. Several Wolfos were relaxing in the area, as well.

"This could be problematic," Lucius commented. His word was proved not a moment later when a Wolfos jumped at them from the nearby ramp that led to the Goron Racetrack. Lucius blasted it out of midair with a fireball. Its howls, however, had alerted its brethren.

"Oh, crap! Nice going, geezer!" Alex shouted as several Wolfos charged at them over the bridge and a couple more tried to attack from the ramp. Lucius took these two out with bolts of light while Alex jumped out of the way of the claws of one of the others. Lucius blasted a few more out of the way with wind, smashing them into a distant wall with a sickening crack, while Alex continued to dodge and block the one after him. He tried to counter after every block, but the Wolfos was too fast and dodged his attacks, too, or blocked with its thick forearms for minimal damage. He dodged another attack and bashed it in the face with his shield before ramming his sword into its mouth. It gurgled and lunged at him, cutting his sword arm up with its razor-sharp teeth and slashing across his torso with its claws. Lucius quickly killed it with another fireball as Alex staggered back. He pulled his bloody sword out of the dead monster's mouth with a disgusted look on his face. Lucius quickly healed him and repaired his armor again.

"I think that we should get you some better armor when we get to Goronopolis," Lucius mused. "They have good metal in Goron mines,"

"Whatever stops me from getting mangled every battle," Alex complained, rubbing his sore arm where the horrible fang injuries had just been. They continued on across the bridges, eventually coming to the entrance to Goronopolis around 11:34, approximated judging by the toll of the clock tower. Two Gorons stood guard next the entrance.

"Oh, hello, humans!" one of the Gorons said genially. "What brings you to Goronopolis?"

"We have been sent to investigate the communication lines," Lucius reported, yet again. "Do you know what has happened?"

"Well, it started a week ago, and the lines finally became unusable, as anyone sent to repair them disappeared," the Goron answered. "We sent a few of our soldiers, too, to look into it, but none returned. Whatever is up there must be powerful!"

"Well, now what, old man?" Alex inquired of Lucius with his usual level of respect. "Do we go fight the mysterious, powerful enemy that has slain many men?"

"It seems we have no choice," the Sage sighed.

"The lines are over there," the Goron pointed to a path carved into the mountains on their right. A series of stone pillars were built along the path, telegram wires went through the pillars. "Good luck," Lucius nodded and led Alex down the stairs that were cut into the shelf that they were on.

"First, though, let's find the local shop," the Sage said. "I think I can recall the location..."

He led Alex through the multitude of large, roughly-hewn, stone buildings, finally coming to one with 'The Goron Sundry Stop' carved into a slab of stone next to the wooden door. "Ah, here it is," they headed in.

"Ah, welcome, brothers!" the Goron shopkeeper shouted enthusiastically from behind the stone counter. "How can I help you, today?"

"My friend, here, needs some better armor, and a new sword and shield wouldn't go amiss, either," the Sage responded.

"Oh, yes, that armor looks like it can't really take a hit," the shopkeeper nodded. "Okay, I'll be back," He headed into the back.

"So, if Clock City has the lame armor, where do all the soldiers get their metal armor?" Alex asked.

"There is an acquaintance of mine that provides it, and they also import equipment from the Great Bay and here," Lucius answered matter-of-factly. "You'll find yourself hard-pressed to find any army in Termina better-equipped than the Clock City army,"

"Here you are, brother!" the shopkeeper returned with a chain mail tunic, armor-plated boots, thicker shield, and a Gilded Sword, sheathed in a nice blue sheath. "All together, this should be 1,525 rupees," Alex's jaw dropped.

"All right," Lucius fished out seven silver rupees, an orange rupee, a red rupee, and a blue rupee from his wallet. Alex gaped at him, as well.

"How do you have so much money, old man?" he demanded. Lucius chuckled and, instead of answering, took the equipment and dropped it on Alex, nearly bowling him over.

"There is a restroom here, if you wish to try those on," the Sage pointed to a door, clearly labeled. Alex grumbled and went into the room. Ignoring the stone basin and stone loo, he quickly changed into the new equipment. It was, basically, the leather equipment with chain mail added onto the outside. The hat and tunic were even more stiff and uncomfortable than before, as were the boots. The shield was also heavier than the Terminan Shield, though, he could tell, it would take hits better. The Gilded Sword was longer than the Hylian Sword, and would take some getting used to, but it was, apparently, a lot sharper and thin, but strong. "Ah, the hero emerges!" Lucius exclaimed as Alex came out of the restroom in his new outfit.

"It's stiff. How am I supposed to move in it?" he complained.

"You'll adjust," the Sage shrugged. "Here, I'll take your old equipment off of your hands," he took it and shoved it into the bag that he had over his shoulders.

"How did you do that? That stuff shouldn't even fit in there!" Alex exclaimed.

"I always carry enchanted baggage. It's the only way to carry all of the necessities of an adventure, or daily life, actually," he shrugged. "Well, the day is getting older. Let's go," he headed out of the shop. Alex shook his head and followed.

Saturday, 12:02, Communication Line Path

"Man, how far does this go?" Alex shielded his eyes with a hand as he tried to see the end of the winding path of the lines.

"All the way to Clock City," Lucius replied. "But don't worry," he added at the expression on the younger person's face. "The lines are only above ground in the mountains, and Ikana Ridge is only half-way. We should have little problem,"

"Oh, sure, assuming that we have the energy to fight when we get there," Alex muttered.

They walked on for a while, meeting nothing and hearing only the wind.

"That's odd. There should be Tektites and other monsters here," Lucius wondered aloud. "I wonder what has happened to cause this unwarranted tranquility?"

"Probably nothing good," Alex gasped, struggling to keep going.

The clock tower tolled 13:00 in the distance as they finally came to the first sign of trouble. There was a rumbling sound ahead and the ground shook.

"What is that, I wonder?" the Sage hurried around the next ridge and found the source of the disturbance. A huge, muscular Cyclops was rampaging around.

"Holy Goddesses!" Alex exclaimed.

"Look! Someone is already fighting it!" Lucius pointed to the figure quickly darting around the monster, slicing it here and there, disappearing and reappearing with blue flashes to dodge its moves and to injure it. "I'd say we found what broke the lines," the Sage observed as the stranger warped up several yards from the Cyclops and fired a massive beam of iridescent light at it, annihilating it easily. He vanished and reappeared in front of the duo in a blue flash. Alex jumped as the black-clad, long-lavender-haired stranger appeared before him, black cloak fluttering behind him.

"Fake!" he declared, pointing to Alex. "I challenge you!" He ran forward with such speed that Alex couldn't even follow him and punched the preteen into the rock behind him, leaving a spider-web crack as he sprawled to the ground, barely conscious. Lucius fired a few blasts of light energy at the stranger. He dodged two and blocked the rest with his hand as he glowed yellow. The glow faded and he fired several balls of dark energy at Lucius, who deflected them harmlessly away to explode in the air.

"Enough, Knil!" Lucius shouted sternly. "You should know that Alex is Link's grandson," Knil lowered his weapon and put it away in the sheath on his back.

"Of course I know that," he crossed his arms with his usual frown as Lucius healed Alex. "I was just seeing if he measures up," He looked to Alex. "You shame Link with such weakness. You can't even react to an attack!"

"Shut up!" Alex retorted. "Being fast doesn't mean anything! You just caught me off guard!" Knil humphed and turned away.

"Go back to Clock City, where it's safe," he answered simply. "You don't belong out here," He vanished with a blue flash. Alex growled.

"Stupid show-off...thinks he knows everything!" he raged.

"Knil hasn't changed much, that's for sure," the Sage shook his head. "Rather, he has changed back to being more as he was before..." he trailed off. "Never mind, we should get back to Goronopolis," Alex looked at the long trek back.

"You're kidding, right?"


	5. Mysticism and Memories

**Chapter 5: Mysticism and Memories**

Saturday, 14:45

After speaking with the Goron Elder and hearing his declaration for increasing security on the communication lines, Lucius warped himself and Alex back to the Governor's Residence, appearing in front of the main gate. The two guards were startled, but quickly composed themselves.

"Why didn't you just teleport us, earlier? It would have made the trip to Snowhead quicker!" Alex complained, wincing as some pain arrowed up his leg.

"You must learn to rely on your own abilities, if you wish to be a Hero," the Sage replied patiently.

"Yeah, and waste a bunch of time walking in the mountains," Alex retorted, feeling his legs ache and threaten to seize up.

"Besides, how would you hone your skills if I just teleported you everywhere?" Lucius continued. "Link didn't become a great hero by cutting corners in his quests," The retort was interrupted by the arrival of Ashard, coming out of the gates.

"You two! The Governor wishes for a report on your investigation," he barked.

"Of course," Lucius nodded. "Come, Alex, let's go see Tei," Alex couldn't help but look forward to that, even feeling as tired and sore as he did.

"So it was a Cyclops that destroyed the lines..." Tei commented as Lucius concluded the story, as Alex was too tired to say much, though he still managed to stare at the Governor's visage as she sat on the other side of the desk from them, fingers templed. "I think that we should also increase our guard on the comm lines," she looked to Ashard, who stood at her left side. "We cannot afford to have our communications severed again, if we are to be aware of what is going on in Termina," Ashard took a few steps back.

"I'll see to it, m'lady," he bowed and left.

"Now, I see that you are tired from your heroism today," Tei continued, looking at Alex. "You may go now and retire for the night,"

"Thank you, Governor," Lucius stood and bowed as Alex stiffly got up from his chair. She stood and saw them out of her office.

"Good evening," she said with a courteous, though tired, smile, and closed her office door. Lucius looked down at Alex.

"Come, Alex, I will allow you to stay at my house tonight," the Sage stated. "I know that the inn is not cheap and you have other things you want to spend your money on,"

"All my stuff is at the inn," Alex protested with less vigor than usual.

"Not to worry, I shall fetch it while you rest," he nodded. Alex grumbled half-heartedly but handed over his room key, regardless. They headed out of the manor, dodging hurrying soldiers and servants, finally making it back outside as the clock tower tolled 15:00. "Alex," the Sage said suddenly as they passed the gates and stepped back into Inner East Clock City.

"Huh?" the preteen looked tiredly up at the older man.

"I believe that you should learn some magic, as well as swordplay," Lucius pressed on. "It may be useful in the future,"

"Nah, I don't care about magic," Alex responded with a bit of his usual vigor, waving his hand dismissively. "That's your thing. Why waste my time?"

"Link had enough talent for magic. It runs in the bloodline of your family," Lucius smiled sadly and looked away. "I won't always be around to be your personal mage, you know," Alex was visibly shocked by this sudden show of emotion, but quickly composed his face to hide it.

"Fine," Alex huffed, crossing his arms. "If it'll keep you from getting all weepy on me, old man," Lucius chuckled.

"Thanks for humoring an old has-been, then," he walked ahead. Alex groaned, feeling his legs protest, and followed.

He finally caught up to Lucius in his study. "Ah, Alex, perfect timing!" he turned and shoved a book into the preteen's hands. He examined it and saw that it was a _Beginner's Guide to Swordplay_, with pictures of swords and shields carved into the leather cover in a way that made it look raised.

"I thought I was supposed to be learning magic, greybeard," Alex noted impudently. "Did you already forget?"

"No, of course not," the Sage chuckled. "I, being, pardon me, a powerful Sage, do not own a copy of any beginner's magic books right now," He turned away and scanned over the complicated-looking books in the bookshelf that he stood next to. "However, at 21:00 tonight, a shop that _does_ sell such paraphernalia will open and we will go buy it,"

"What shop?" Alex crossed his arms and frowned.

"Patience," Lucius chided gently. "You will also meet someone that I think that you should meet, so it will be doubly good for us to go," He turned and strode past the preteen. "Now, let's have a late lunch, and then you can rest until tonight," Alex growled in annoyance and threw his hands down.

"Fine, old man, have it your way..."

**Saturday, 17:51**

Alex awoke a few hours later, in the musty guest room. The wood was a bit faded in places from years of sunlight and the old closet stood ajar, filled with Alex's belongings that, undoubtedly, the Sage had placed there while the preteen slept. He threw off the covers and got up from the old four-poster with faded red curtains.

"Ah, you're awake," Lucius said from the doorway. "I have a couple of errands to run in town, so I want you to use this time to practice some of those moves from that book that I gave you,"

"Sure, why not?" Alex grumbled. "Goddesses know I haven't done enough today..."

"Good," the Sage ignored the second part good-naturedly. "I left some food on the table, if you get hungry, and the dojo is down the hall," He walked away. "Make sure to wear your equipment!" he called behind him. Alex shook his head and grumbled as he pulled the uncomfortable chain mail back over his cloth underclothes. His hat clinked against his back as he strapped on his baldric and his sword and shield.

"Easy for him to say..." he muttered, heading down the hall and into the furthest door. The door opened into a fairly large room with a padded floor. Metal and wood targets were everywhere, along with metal and wooden dummies with wooden and metal swords, shields, spears, axes, and staves in hand. There was a sign posted on the wall. 'Beware of the Enchanted Puppets. They operate on voice command, but can be dangerous if used incorrectly. Beginners and new users should tell the puppets to fight at level 1. As proficiency is gained, increase the level by 1 until you are challenged again. Tell them to stop to make them stop. If you wish to practice without any puppets, make sure that you stay in the middle of the room. Please enjoy my dojo.'

"Geez, what a windbag," Alex muttered. "I doubt that anyone else ever uses this place," He grabbed the _Beginner's Guide to Swordplay_ from a podium that was adjacent to the nearby wall and flipped it open. 'Let's see...chapter 1, sword care...chapter 2, grip...chapter 3, how to hold a shield...chapter 4...chapter 5...'

**Saturday, 19:50**

"Having fun?" the Sage finally returned. Alex fell over in the middle of practicing a countering pirouette.

"Until you came in," the sweaty, tired preteen retorted, getting up and looking at the floor to hide his flushed cheeks.

"Well, it's nearly 20:00. I assume that you want a bath and a meal, before we head out," Lucius said with his usual small smile.

"Yeah, that would be convenient," the preteen mumbled, heading out of the dojo.

"I'll meet you in the dining room," the Sage called after him. Alex headed into the bathroom, easily using the hot and cold knobs of the magical tub to run some water in, as Lucius had left another note in the bathroom about how to operate the tub, and closing the drain with a lever.

So it was, that they were walking down the street in Inner West Clock City as the clock tolled 22:00.

"So, how late is this shop open, anyway?" Alex inquired, looking to the Sage.

"Fairly late," Lucius answered. "Though I'd prefer that we're not out too late. There are thieves out at this time of night," Not only that, apparently, but Alex noticed that quite a few shady characters were about the city at night. Some stood on corners, selling illicit mixtures of herbs, while others crept along, scruffy and twitchy, hand gripping what was likely a knife in their pocket. A few Gorons, snoring loudly, could be spotted, here and there throughout the city, sleeping outdoors to enjoy the night air. "Here we are," he stopped in front of the Curiosity Shop.

"This place? I thought that it was closed," Alex recalled from his first time in town.

"Only during the day," the Sage explained. "The type of things that he sells are a bit...sensitive in nature,"

"Like illegal stuff?" Alex cocked an eyebrow at him.

"No...not necessarily," Lucius shook his head. "But things that the general public doesn't need to be looking at or buying,"

"Right..." Alex muttered, wondering what he was being led into.

"Well, in we go," the Sage opened the door and went inside. Alex hesitantly followed. The building was crowded with various crates, open and closed, shelves of books took up one side of the shop, and a powerful scent of incense hit Alex in the face and made him cough as he walked in. Lucius headed down the narrow path between the crates and up to the counter, where a somewhat elderly man in with long, dark hair and a purple robe, which was covered in arcane designs, sat, reading a book. He turned his eyes up to Lucius as the Sage approached, putting his book down slowly.

"Ah, Lucius. Good to see you tonight," he said smoothly in his fairly deeper tones.

"Good evening, Ledrym," Lucius responded. "I am here for a copy of _Basic Magic and Its Uses_,"

"Ah, yes. That would be in the back," the man pointed with a gnarled finger.

"Very good. I'll just go get it," Lucius turned to the side. "Oh, and this is Alex. He is my apprentice, of sorts,"

"Really?" Ledrym's eyebrows lifted a little as he templed his fingers.

"Alex, this is Ledrym," he gestured to the other man. "He is a Shaman, of sorts. A practitioner of magicks, like myself, though he is more towards the arcane and the dark than I am,"

"Yes..." Ledrym hummed through his yellowed teeth. "I wonder how good an apprentice he is, Lucius, as he seems to be a sword-user,"

"Oh, I can teach him how to use swords, too," Lucius shrugged nonchalantly, walking off to find the book he sought.

"Hmm..." Ledrym observed the preteen critically with his slightly bloodshot, green eyes. "Did you know, young one, that magic can be channeled with magical rings? It really seems like cheating to me, but the rings can aid you if you need practice with allowing the magical energies to soak into your body. Archaic runes can also be of aid, though they are a bit for the more...bookish types. Of course, a skilled mage only needs an incantation to use the fine art of magic,"

"So, basically, I just need a magic ring and I'll be able to use magic?" Alex said snidely.

"Perhaps...if you aren't as much of an idiot as 95% of the population nowadays," he replied just as snidely, but in a cool manner.

"Well, then it should be easy," the preteen retorted. The Shaman frowned deeply at this.

"Magic is not easy," he said harshly, his voice deepened and began to echo and have an accompaniment to it as it spoke. He seemed shadows drew out around him, making him appear larger, as a mysterious wind whipped around him, making his hair and robes billow impressively. Alex braced himself as the wind somehow managed to whip around him, as well, without disturbing anything else in the vicinity. "MaGiC tAkEs ThE dEePeSt CoMmItMeNt AnD tHe GrAvEsT dEdIcAtIoN! It ShOuLd NeVeR bE tAkEn LiGhTly! SiMpLeR mEn HaVe FoRfEiTtEd ThEiR lIVeS fOr LeSs!" Alex was, understandably, startled beyond belief. The illusion soon faded as these words echoed into the sudden silence and normalcy returned as Ledrym dwindled back into a simple old man. Lucius came striding back with the book, not two seconds later, as Alex was still glaring at the Shaman and trying to catch his breath.

"Here it is," the Sage stated, apparently oblivious to what had transpired. "How much do I owe you?"

"Well...normally I would ask 1100 rupees for it, but I'll let you have it for 550," Ledrym said coolly.

"Fair enough," Lucius fished five orange rupees and a purple one out of his wallet and handed the glass coins over. The Shaman opened a concealed till under the counter and dropped the coins in.

"Pleasure doing business. Come back anytime..." Ledrym barred his yellowed teeth in a dark grin. Alex left in the lead, this time, opening the door and allowing Lucius to follow.

"Man, that guy is creepy!" the preteen burst out after the door was closed and they were heading back down the road. "How can you shop there?"

"Well, he is strange, but an expert on magic and a valuable ally," Lucius smiled a little to himself. "Besides, you insulted his years of study. You had that little bout of showing off coming,"

"Why didn't you come over and help?!" Alex snapped.

"He wouldn't have hurt you," the Sage shrugged. "He has better things to do than beat up on uppity kids,"

"I'm not a kid!" Alex protested fiercely.

"All right, all right..." Lucius raised his hands in surrender. "But, now, we have a choice before us. Should we train all night or sleep and train tomorrow?"

"Shouldn't you be resting, old man?" Alex pointed out. "You've been going all day,"

"True enough," the Sage admitted. "I suppose that we should start tomorrow, then,"

**Sunday, 04:30**

Lucius, still yawning a bit, made his way into the dojo, hearing the attack shouts and clanging of metal on metal. Stopping in the doorway, he smiled slightly as Alex dueled fiercely with one of the metal enchanted puppets. He was making quite a bit of headway, easily disarming and kicking over the puppet. It went to retrieve its weapon and shield as another puppet took its place. Alex easily deflected the weak stab of its blunt sword and batted the weapon aside before beheading the puppet. It fell like a rag doll and the first puppet came back for more while the second crawled over to retrieve its head.

"Oh, come on! Level 2!" Alex barked. The puppet immediately upped its ante a bit and started using a few elementary swordplay tactics. Lucius turned and went to prepare breakfast.

**Sunday, 06:00**

"Stop!" Lucius shouted, coming back, finally, into the dojo. The puppets ceased their assault.

"What is it, old man?" Alex huffed, a bit tired from fighting the level 3 training regimen.

"I thought that you may want to take a break and have a meal," the Sage replied. "One of the most important parts of training is taking a break," The preteen was about to retort when his stomach growled loudly.

"Okay, I'm coming," he put away his sword and hung his shield back on his back. Lucius waved his hand and it glowed green briefly, retuning and cleaning Alex's equipment. They then headed out of the room.

"Why are you staring at me, greybeard?" Alex asked after Lucius had not averted his gaze from his face for a whole minute.

"Hmm..." he came out of reverie. "I remember a time, not too long ago, when Link and I sat here, eating and talking. You resemble him greatly, though your hair reflects your mother,"

"So you actually knew my grandfather? I thought that you were just making references to him that you heard," Alex answered, trying to hide his curiousity.

"Yes, we once traveled together, he and I..." Lucius smiled reminiscently. "We were good friends. It is thanks to him that I am who I am today," the Sage rose. "Come, I wish to show you something," Alex shrugged and followed him. He led the way to the study and pulled an old, leather-bound album off of the shelf. He placed it on the aged wooden desk, nearby, and opened it to show old pictographs.

"See, here are several pictographs of us," the Sage ran his finger over several pictures of Link, himself, and, usually, others, at various places, doing various things. "Here is a pictograph of a school field trip to the Southern Swamp," Lucius remembered how _that_ ended. "Ah, here...it's a pictograph of the whole group," he pointed to one of the entire group arrayed by the shore at Lake Hylia. Link, in his usual green tunic, and a beautiful red-haired woman, 4 months pregnant and in a green sun dress, stood at the front, arms around each other and laughing. "That's Link and your grandmother, Romani," Lucius, younger, beardless, and with slightly shorter blond hair and wearing a black robe with a wooden staff in his hand, stood to the left of Link and Romani, smiling and holding hands with a slightly older red-headed female in a blue sun dress; she looked 3 months pregnant. "There's me and your great-aunt Cremia," Knil was standing to the right of Link and Romani, looking the same as ever, though wearing a small smile and only his dark pants, holding hands with another red-head, who looked quite similar to Cremia, though with a bit of difference in nose and face structure. She wore a yellow sun dress. "That's Knil and your grandmother's cousin, Malon. She was 1 month pregnant at the time, though you can't really tell here..."

"Wait! Knil?!" Alex exclaimed. "That jerk that attacked us at Snowhead?!" Lucius smiled sadly.

"Yes. He used to be a lot nicer, and I hoped that he had reformed from his dark ways," the Sage sighed. "But, after Malon died..." he shook his head. "Anyway..." he went back to looking at the photo. Behind Knil and Malon, a male Zora, skin glistening in the sunlight, wearing only a blue kilt, stood next to a striking female Zora in a lovely indigo dress. The female had her arm around the male's neck and smiled widely, while he looked like he obviously didn't want to be in the picture. "Those two are the king and queen of the Hylian Zora. Tetran and Ruto are their names, though I believe Ruto is gone now..." He grew a bit misty-eyed. Alex noticed a tall man with long, golden hair, wearing a leather jerkin and shorts, standing next to a tall, though slightly shorter, woman with long, blond hair and a regal bearing. She was wearing a red sun dress.

"Who are they?" the preteen asked, nudging the older man.

"Hmm? Oh, the woman is the former Queen of Hyrule, Zelda, and the man is her captain-in-chief of the Hylian army, Norris," the Sage answered. "Oddly enough, they ended up together, and the current king is their son," He scanned the photo. "Let's see...the man with the short, silver hair and the Gerudo pants is Zlon,"

"Why is he bruised up?" Alex asked. Lucius chuckled and pointed to Norris and a dark-haired woman, wearing a red T-shirt and blue shorts that flattered her figure, near him. "He pushed Norris and Ashei into the water while they were chatting. They retaliated," He pointed to a short man with long, grey-blue hair and red eyes, wearing yellow pants, his teeth barred in a mischievous grin. "That's Vaati. He's another villain that came over to our side, though he's still a thief and a con artist," Alex gave Lucius an odd look. "There's Shad," he pointed to a man with curly, brown hair and glasses, wearing a white Y-shirt and khaki shorts, standing by Ashei with a hand on her shoulder as he smiled nervously. "He was convinced that he would get horrible sunburn from a day at the lake. He was right, but Ashei helped him apply the lotion, so I think he minded less than he would have," He chuckled at the thought.

"Too much info, old man," Alex responded, his face scrunched.

"Ah, that's Impa," he pointed to the older woman with grey hair, wearing a purple one-piece and obviously coated with water. "She and Tetran had been swimming laps around the pond. Of course, Tetran won, as Zoras are better swimmers than Sheikah or Hylians, but Impa didn't seem to mind. That woman always liked to improve herself..." His finger slid around until he stopped on a blond guy with a short beard and mustache, wearing only a pair of khaki pants, grinning and leaning on Ashei's other shoulder while she looked at him suspiciously. "That's Rusl. He was from Ordon. As a matter of fact, Shad, Rusl, and Ashei had a detective service called Team Eye, though I daresay it was not quite as lucrative as they would've hoped," His finger found a green-skinned Gerudo with long, red hair and a large nose, as Gerudo are wont to have. The man wore a pair of black pants and was posing in midair to show off his muscles. "Ah, and that ham is Ganondorf. Oft time pain in our butts, he is. He was usually our enemy, but he would call truces, occasionally, and would usually turn on other villains that he thought were stealing his thunder or taking his plans in the wrong direction," Alex found this odd too and was about to say so but Lucius finally pointed to the eccentric-looking old guy in blue robes and continued. "And that's Bill. He worked at the Lake Hylia Lab, doing experiments with the water and whatnot. He insisted on being in the pictograph,"

He looked to a pictograph below the lake one. "Ah, there's Link, Romani, Cremia, and I, with our children,"

"There's mom," Alex pointed to the pretty young woman in front of Link, in green and boots, and Romani, in her usual white blouse, boots, and a long red skirt. She had reddish-blond hair to her shoulders and wore a green sun dress and sandals. Lucius was a bit older in this pictograph, as his hair was starting to show a few flecks of grey and he had a short red beard and mustache already. Cremia's face was more lined, like her sister's and brother-in-law's, and her red hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She wore an outfit similar to Romani's, though the skirt was blue. All four of them were smiling. "She looks so pretty. I thought she was always just..." he choked back a sob.

"No, she was not always so sick and frail," Lucius said softly. "Unfortunately, that illness strikes anyone, young or old, and has no real cure. Even a Sage of my power could not stop it, even to save my own wife," he closed the album sadly. "Alas, life is full of tragedy, but think not that it is not worth living, for there is joy too," he left the room quietly.

'Mom...' Alex thought, sitting down in a chair. 'I'll make you proud. I'll live for you too.'


End file.
